The Cavalier daily :: Friday, November 12, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

Paramount Pictures has come up
with another "Love Story," only
this time around the protagonists
are fifteen and fourteen. The film is
titled "Friends," and it revolves
around such a shaky premise that
the film has trouble being a
cohesive unit and not a long series
of pretty vistas shot in hazy colors.

The plot for Lewis Gilbert's film
is just as simple as the one Erich
Segal invented last year for
you-know-what. Fifteen year old
Paul runs away with a fourteen year
old girl; they live together,
"marry," and have a baby. No joke,
that's the plot. Of course the boy's
family background is appalling. His
rich father doesn't really love him,
and is re-marrying a haughty woman
with a younger son who plays
Mozart sonatas brilliantly. The
family background is such a cliche,
and the father, woman, and son are
so stereotyped that rather than feel
pity for the boy, we're disgusted that
director Gilbert couldn't have come
up with something better.

The girl, Michele, wins more
sympathy, having recently lost her
father, and now living in Paris with
her cousin and live-in lover, who
makes passes at the younger girl.
Both Paul and Michele want to
escape, and I wonder if Gilbert was
aware of having treated interesting
subconscious desires in that the girl
needs a father figure, and the boy
needs... shades of Oedipus!

As Paul, Sean Bury is quite cute,
but not cute enough to challenge
David Cassidy's stature as perennial
cover boy of "Tigerbeat," and
"Fab." He is a typical fifteen year
old boy, as Anicee Alvina is a typical
fourteen year old girl. The only real
annoying thing about her is her
Gallicized English ("I am zo
'appy!")

Fuzzy Focusing

Gilbert's direction is not the
most inspiring thing I have seen this
year, but at least he doesn't madly
indulge in slow motion, as I feared.
Gilbert prefers fuzzy focusing
instead, which is not too great a skill
to master, giving us the impression of
a world seen through rose colored
glasses.

The soundtrack features songs
by Elton John, and all I can say is
after the dirty crack given to
Mozart, Gilbert has his nerve to use
Elton John's music! Each song is so
predictable, with the same
arrangement of solo piano,
followed by bass and drums and
then strings. His fans will love it,
but anyone who doesn't consider
himself among those fortunate few is
advised to bring ear muffs.

Toy Doll

The film at times seems vulgar,
at least I felt it was when Gilbert
shows us the young mother giving
birth while holding a toy doll, and
the father exclaiming, "I can see
him!" Maybe vulgarity is too harsh
a criticism; maybe the film simply
lacks taste. If anything, ZPG should
picket Paramount's head offices for
advocating pregnancies among
consenting minors.

All kidding aside, "Friends" is
really as bad as it sounds. The
subject could have made a nice
little story for some magazine, but
to be film entertainment more
substance is needed. The film is a
delicate piece of fluff, not unlike
cotton candy -sweet and sticky

(Now at the University)